Long Term Unemployed People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people over 25 have been unemployed for over two years (a) at the most recent date for which figures are available and (b) in each year since 1992.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2014
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question to ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people aged over 25 have been unemployed for over two years (a) at the most recent date for which figures are available and (b) in each year since 1992.(184387)
	Estimates of unemployment by age are derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The table provides estimates for the number of people aged 25 and over who have been unemployed for 2 years or more.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. These are indicated by the guide to quality in the table.
	
		
			 Number of unemployed people aged 25 and over, by duration three months ending November each year, 1992 to 2013 United Kingdom, seasonally adjusted 
			  Unemployed for 2 years or more (thousands) As a percentage of all unemployed in age group (%) 
			 1992 468 23.3 
			 1993 566 28.1 
			 1994 587 32.8 
			 1995 538 317 
			 1996 474 30.7 
			 1997 347 27.0 
			 1998 286 24.8 
			 1999 252 22.1 
			 2000 202 20.5 
			 2001 170 18.2 
			 2002 144 15.0 
			 2003 130 14.3 
			 2004 113 13.8 
			 2005 125 14.0 
			 2006 154 15.4 
			 2007 143 15.2 
			 2008 161 14.2 
			 2009 182 11.9 
			 2010 261 17.0 
		
	
	
		
			 2011 327 20.0 
			 2012 340 22.2 
			 2013 340 24.3 
			 Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5% we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220. Key: * 0 ? CV < 5—Statistical Robustness—Estimates are considered precise. ** 5 ? CV < 10—Statistical Robustness—Estimates are considered reasonably precise. ***10 ? CV < 20—Statistical Robustness—Estimates are considered acceptable. **** CV ? 20—Statistical Robustness—Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes Coefficient of Variation (CV) (%) Source: Labour Force Survey